


Won't Let You Fall

by Spacecadet72



Category: The Greatest Showman (2017)
Genre: F/M, Wedding Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-04
Updated: 2018-03-06
Packaged: 2019-03-26 19:41:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,176
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13864650
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spacecadet72/pseuds/Spacecadet72
Summary: Anne and Phillip practice trapeze late one night after everyone is asleep. Phillip has a question for Anne.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Written for an ask meme prompt for athenasdragon on tumblr: my destiny is in your hands + the witching soul of music. 
> 
> While New York has never had any anti-miscegenation laws, it would still certainly not be easy for Anne and Phillip to be married. But they did live in one of the few states where it was legal for them to marry. 
> 
> Title from No Matter Where You Are by Us The Duo which is such a CarlWheeler song. :D

Phillip walked into the darkened arena late after everyone else had gone to bed. 

Well, almost everyone, he thought with a smile as he saw Anne hanging from her hoop, running through one of her routines. She looked beautiful--not that she didn’t always--but there was something ethereal about her when she was in the air, limbs stretched out elegantly in a pose. 

He walked into the middle ring, allowing the lone light to shine on him, not wanting to startle her.

“Couldn’t sleep?”

She turned to look down at him, a matching smile tugging at her lips. “It looks like I wasn’t the only one.” 

He shrugged. “I wasn’t tired and since you weren’t in our tent, I was hoping I would be able to have some time with you to myself.” 

The circus had been doing so well lately, and the troupe had been working on all new routines to keep people coming back. It meant that there had been little time for them to just be together. 

She lowered the hoop, nodding. “I’m sorry practicing has taken up so much time--” she began as she gently slid out of the hoop to stand next to him. 

He shook his head. “It’s not like I haven’t been just as busy.” 

“Well, I’m not busy now,” she said with a knowing smile, leaning in to kiss him gently. He kissed her back, his hands moving up to sink into her hair, smiling into her lips. 

She pulled back after several beats, and looked around at the darkened arena. “It’s been a while since it’s been just us here like this.” 

Phillip nodded, following her gaze. Even if it had been in a building and not a tent, he couldn’t help but be reminded of that night when they had both poured out their hearts, and it had still not been enough. So much had happened between then and now, that he could look back on that time without the pain it had brought in the days immediately following. 

“Wanna practice?” Anne asked, smile wide and voice light. She had been giving him trapeze lessons when they could find the time. He probably wouldn’t ever use it in the actual show, but he’d been enjoying learning something new and getting to spend more time with Anne. 

He nodded, and slipped off his jacket, moving to set it on the side of the ring. They stayed silent as they moved through the routine, sharing the hoop and both of them trusting the other to hold their weight. 

Anne started humming softly and it was a tune he recognized. The combination of the song as they quietly moved in sync gave him a heady almost dreamlike feeling. He wasn’t sure if it was the act of being in the air or just being with Anne, but he’d never felt anything like he did when practicing with her. 

They ran through each routine several times, relying on muscle memory and their unwavering trust in each other. After an hour of practice, their limbs shaking and both of them shining with sweat, they lowered the hoop, and Phillip hopped out of it onto the ground, already striding towards his jacket and the item he’d been carrying in the pocket for the past month. 

There had never been a good moment, but right here with her was more perfect than anything he could have planned. “There’s something I want to ask you,” he said, walking towards her. 

“What is it?” she started to ask, but her voice trailed off as he dropped to one knee. He opened his hand to show her the ring he held, the stone sparkling in the light as he moved to hold it out to her. He was surprised that his hand was shaking. He knew what her answer was likely to be. They had talked about marriage, and their future, more than once in the year that they had been together, but he couldn’t keep the nerves at bay. 

“Anne Wheeler,” he said, managing to keep his voice mostly steady. “Rewriting the stars is never easy, but with you by my side, I know that we can do anything. Will you marry me?”

Tears had sprung to her eyes, and her smile was joyous and shaky and seemed to contain so much more than either of them could express. She nodded, and without giving him a chance to say anything or slide the ring on her finger, she moved to kneel in front of him and pulled him down for a kiss. 

“Yes,” she said, her voice hushed as she pulled back, her eyes meeting his. “Yes, Phillip Carlyle, I will marry you.” 

Now, Phillip slid the ring onto her finger, both of their smiles so wide, it almost hurts. “I love you,” he said, feeling his eyes fill with tears as well. 

“And I love you,” she said, and she was so beautiful, kneeling here in the middle of the ring with him. His fiancée, soon to be his wife. This incredible woman had agreed to marry him, and he was so happy he didn’t feel like his body could contain it all. He brought one hand up to cup her cheek before leaning down to kiss her again, his arms going around her and pulling her close. 

He knew that there were plans and arrangements to be made, although thankfully less than if he were marrying someone his parents had picked out for him, as he had once feared would be his fate. Planning could wait, however. All he wanted to do now was be with Anne.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A wedding.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just couldn't leave this story without doing a wedding, because I'm a sucker for fluff and cliches. 
> 
> I researched late 1800s wedding customs, and some of that you'll see below, but then I said screw it in the name of fluff and decided to strive for the same level of historical accuracy as the film. :D

“Oh, Anne, you look beautiful.”

“Carlyle’s not gonna know what hit him.”

Anne smiled as everyone in the room laughed, and watched her reflection in the mirror as Lettie applied her makeup.

The small dressing room was full with women getting ready or helping Anne get ready for the wedding. Charity and the girls had stopped by, but the room was too small for everyone and two rambunctious girls energized by the general excitement, and Charity had taken them to help get ready elsewhere.

Anne knew that if Phillip had married the kind of woman his parents wanted, the bride would have worn white, but here she was, smoothing down the skirt of what was now her best dress, a dark purple number with beading that sparkled in the light, and trying to stop her hands from shaking. It had been a gift from the rest of the troupe, and Anne was so happy to have the support of their new family on what she knew would be her happiest day.

“Are you okay?” Lettie asked, noticing Anne’s shaking hands.

Anne laughed and nodded. “I’m nervous, but I don’t have any doubts.”

Lettie smiled and went back to working on Anne’s makeup. “Good. That boy loves you so much.”

Anne’s smile widened as she thought about the man she would be marrying in only a few moments. “And I love him just as much.”

Lettie stepped back to look at Anne. “I think you’re ready.”

Anne took in a deep breath, meeting her own eyes in the mirror. “I am.”

* * *

 

PT met her at the edge of the arena, hidden in the shadows.

“Are you ready?” he asked, his smile wide as he offered her his arm.

She nodded and took it, once again grateful for the family they had now. She had shed tears over the fact that neither of their parents would be there--his because they refused to attend, and hers because they were no longer alive--and while she wished for so many things to be different, being surrounded by their friends on her wedding day was not one of them.

Several of the troupe members had broken out musical instruments, and were playing what Anne recognized as a slightly improvised version of the wedding march. Anne looked their way and smiled as she caught their eyes.

And then she turned her attention back towards the middle ring, and Phillip met her eyes and her breath caught. He looked so handsome in his suit, and he looked as in awe of her as he had the night they met. She and PT made their way towards Phillip and the rest of the wedding party, but all that Anne could see was Phillip. In this moment, she couldn’t remember why she had ever been afraid to love this man.

PT handed her off to Phillip and went to stand next to him on the other side. Lettie, who was standing up with her, gave her hand a brief squeeze before Anne and Phillip turned towards the minister.

The minister was a man sympathetic to both Anne and Phillip and the circus, something they had quickly realized was not easy to find. He smiled as Anne and Phillip stood in front of him, their hands clasped, his bible held against his chest.

He began to speak, addressing everyone who had gathered to witness the wedding, but Anne didn’t hear any of it. She could only focus on Phillip’s eyes locked on hers, and his hands in hers, and knowing that soon they would be really and truly married.

And then the minister was saying her name, and without looking away from Phillip, she gave her answer. “I do.”

“I do,” Phillip echoed as he gave her hands a squeeze.

After the minister spoke briefly, Phillip brought one hand up to cup her face and he was kissing her. She smiled into the kiss, and threw her hands around his neck, ignoring the whistles and cheering coming from their friends.

They broke apart, and their hands entwined, went to go celebrate with their friends.

* * *

 

“I don’t think I told you how beautiful you look,” Phillip said as he led her through their first dance as husband and wife.

“You didn’t, but we were a little busy,” Anne said with a playful smile.

“It was a rather important ceremony,” Phillip said, matching her tone, before his voice turned more serious. “You look beautiful, Mrs. Carlyle.”

Anne wasn’t sure that she would ever get used to hearing herself called by that name. “Thank you. You look rather handsome yourself, husband.”

Phillip’s smile turned warm and loving as he moved to kiss her. They stopped moving as they both deepened the kiss, not even bothering to pretend that they were dancing anymore.

“Hey, lovebirds!” Charles yelled, to the laughter of the rest of the troupe as Phillip and Anne broke apart, laughing along with everyone else.

The music changed then from the slower piece for their dance to a much more upbeat number. Anne and Phillip jumped in with everyone else, moving from partner to partner, but both of them staying near enough that they could always see the other.

Every partner she had as the musicians played song after song offered their congratulations, and Anne wasn’t sure she could handle smiling so much, but she was so happy she wasn’t sure she could stop.

Phillip was her next partner. “What do you say we get out of here?” he asked before twirling her.

“I think that sounds like an excellent idea,” she said as she came back to him.

Weaving in and out of the other dancers, they made their way to the edge of the ring.

“Where do you two think you’re going?”

Anne and Phillip whirled around at the voice to find Barnum standing with his arms crossed, his face stern, with Charity standing next to him looking much more approachable. Charity hit PT on the arm, and PT’s stern expression dissolved into a wide smile.

“Congratulations, you two,” he said, moving to hug first Anne and then Phillip, with Charity following right behind him.

“I’m so happy for you both,” Charity said as she hugged Anne tightly. Anne had been mourning the fact that neither of their parents would be there, but with the Barnums there, they both had one set.

“Thank you,” she said to the Barnums, meaning more than just their help with the wedding.

“Anne, Phillip!” Helen called as she and Caroline came barreling towards them. They tackled Phillip first, as they always did, but Anne got her share of hugs as well. The commotion caused by the Barnum girls had caught the attention of everyone else, and soon they were saying goodbye and receiving even more congratulations and best wishes for their honeymoon.

“Guys, we’ll be back in a week,” Phillip said with a laugh.

“At least it’s not any longer, or everything might fall apart with Barnum in charge,” Lettie said.

“Alright, Alright,” PT said goodnaturedly, “we should let the Carlyle’s be on their way.”

They walked in companionable silence as they left the tent. The music had started up again, and Anne was glad to know their friends would continuing celebrating late into the night. The circus loved a good party. 

"Are you ready?" Phillip asked.

“For life with you?” Anne said with a wide grin. “Yes.”


End file.
